Forever Young
by 23scientists
Summary: A/U Callie and Arizona are both juniors in high school. Their new-found friendship is making things exciting and is also leaving both girls a little confused yet very curious.
1. Chapter 1

Forever Young

Arizona's head snapped up when she heard the large metal door of the gymnasium slam shut. She was sitting on the basketball courts smooth wooden floor in a circle with some of her friends who didn't seem to notice the disturbance. She watched as Callie Torres, who was also a junior and 20 minutes late for class, walked up to the P.E. coach in an annoyed fashion. Although the conversation was inaudible from Arizona's distance, she could see that Callie was angry. She was making big sweeping motions with her hands and shaking her head. Coach Kenner stood with his feet shoulder distance apart and his arms folded squarely across his chest. He looked equally annoyed with the brunette and was looking back at her with a stern facial expression. After a few more moments of the conversation, Callie turned on her heel and marched in the direction of the bleachers that was adjacent to Arizona's' groups position on the floor.

When Callie reached the bleachers she dumped her heavy book bag on the floor with a thud that echoed through the gym. She slumped down on the bench and buried her face in her hands, sighing loudly. Shortly after, a thin red headed girl came walking out of the locker room towards her. Arizona noticed her rolled gym shorts and that the issued baby blue gym shirt seemed especially tight around her chest. As she walked she flipped back her long auburn hair and glanced over at Arizona who quickly averted her gaze.

"What did he say, Cal?" the red headed girl said as she plopped down next to Callie.

"Basically, I'm screwed. He said that I missed too many classes to make up the participation part of the grade and that my only saving grace was that I did well on that nutrition essay. But that's still not enough because I have a 68% in this stupid class." Callie exhaled loudly which caused the tips of her straight across bangs to flutter upwards.

"Well there's still three weeks left in this semester, right? We have that presentation that's due Friday that is worth 100 points. If you do well on that it will help your grade. And then we have the 2 mile run and you know how he says if you can run it in under 15 minutes you get all this extra credit, and then there's the final. I'm sure you can get squeeze a B afterall!" Addison gave Callie a goofy smile to try to cheer her up.

"Addison tell me again why we took fucking P.E. as an elective?" Callie asked with a groan.

"Because we thought it would be an easy A. And it would have been, if you didn't screw it up by always skipping." The red head responded.

"You're right. Fuck Coach Kenner. I hate how he always has a stick up his ass." She shot the P.E. coach a nasty look followed by the middle finger that luckily he didn't see because he was busy yelling at a group of boys who were pegging basketballs at the freshmen.

"Fuck high school!" Callie said as she stood up and grabbed her bag off the floor.

"Fuck P.E.!" Addison said back as she stood too.

"Come with me to the locker room, I gotta put on that stupid gym uniform before I lose even more points." Both of the girls walked the length of the court back to the locker room with a smile on their faces, laughing and joking.

Arizona watched from her position on the floor as they turned the corner and vanished from her view. Although having quite a few classes with Callie over the past 3 years, Arizona wouldn't consider them friends. They never really talked and were a part of two different social groups. Arizona's friends were nice, but she often found herself wanting to be alone and to separate herself from them. She wouldn't say she was particularly close with them but she knew that high school was a lot easier when you had people there.

"Yeah, fuck high school." She quietly mumbled under her breath, agreeing with Callie's earlier statements. Her thoughts were soon interrupted as Coach Kenner called the entire class back together to play a game of volleyball. All thoughts of Callie disappeared from Arizona's mind when she tried to balance playing a good game of volleyball without looking like she was trying too hard.

Instead of getting involved in the game, Callie stood around the sidelines and watched it. There were way too many people on each side of the net and it was nearly broken into boys versus girls, the only exception was her exceptionally sluttly friend Addison who was bending over and flipping her long red hair way more times than necessary at the front of the boys team. With a short laugh to herself, Callie continued to survey the class. She noticed the short blonde in the middle of the girl's side who was nervously looking around, obviously self-conscience of how her classmates perceived her, but Callie knew she was probably the only one watching her at that moment. She knew that Arizona Robbins seemed like a cool person, but didn't really stick out in any way.

She thought back to her freshman orientation and how she was seated directly behind her in the bleachers. Callie remembered curiously peeking over her shoulder to read the text message she was typing and joking with Addison when she realized she was texting her mom. After that, there were only a few short conversations in class between the two.

As Callie made her way to sit on the bleachers, Arizona slipped out of the game and went over to her backpack, which was right next to the brunette. Callie watched her walk over and kneeled in front of her bag, digging out her cell phone. Arizona stared at the screen from a few moments and pressed a few buttons. Callie watched her with a smirk and leaned forward, closer to Arizona.

"Who are you texting? Your mom?" Callie said with a heavy tone of sarcasm in her voice.

Arizona's head bobbed up and looked at Callie for a moment, not knowing if she imagined what she heard. When her blue eyes met Callie's brown ones, she noticed the arched eyebrows raised, waiting for a response.

Instantly, a deep blush rose from Arizona's neck and she smiled awkwardly.

"Actually no, I was checking my email." She said quickly and in a defensive tone.

"Oh it was just a joke, didn't mean to scare you, Zonie." Callie said with a smile and laugh.

"No, no, no! You didn't scare me. Did you just call me Zonie?" Arizona asked, tilting her head slightly to the side and eyeing the brunette.

"Yup. Is that a problem? I don't like Arizona. No offense, but all I can think about is cactus… and… tumbleweeds….?" Callie said with a confused but playful tone.

"Cactus and tumbleweeds? Hm. I think you need to get out more often if that's all you can think of when you think of Arizona. Plus, I wasn't even named after the state." Arizona shot back in their playful banter in a matter-of-fact way.

"Oh, then what are you named after?" Callie questioned with genuine curiosity.

But before Arizona could answer, the bell rang signaling the end of class. With that, Callie jumped up, eager to go to lunch.

"Maybe some other time then, Zonie." Callie said with a smile. She stepped over Arizona's book bags and patted her on the head, adding a little shove that made Arizona tilt to her side.

"Hey watch it, asshole!" Arizona yelled at Callie with a smile on her face, but the brunette was already a few paces away. Arizona watched Addison fall into step next to Callie as the pair walked back to the locker room. Arizona felt the smile slowly fade from her face and just before she got up herself to go change, she saw Callie turn around with a big cheeky grin on her face and flash Arizona her middle finger before laughing and turning around. This made Arizona's smile recharge as she laughed at Callie's joking gesture. Both girls changed back into their regular clothes and filed out of the gym to go to lunch, each with their friends but both of their minds still lingering on each other.


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks had gone by and Callie found herself shivering, standing on the edge of her schools football field. She was surrounded by her P.E. classmates who all seemed to be complaining about how it looked like it was about to rain. Callie agreed that it was stupid of Coach Kenner to not reschedule the 2 mile run for a day that had better weather. But she knew that if she didn't manage to run these two miles in under 15 minutes, her shot at a 3.5 GPA was gone.

8 laps. That's the only thing that was standing between her and her goal. 8 very long laps. 8 very fast laps. Callie shook her head; she doubted she could do it. Sure she had played her share of soccer and was in pretty good shape but 2 miles in 15 minutes? That seemed downright impossible.

"Okay people, you know the drill. 8 laps around the football field. No funny business! And don't think I won't know if you try to skip out on one. And, as usual, any persons able to run it under 15 minutes will get a special prize!"

Coach Kenner's last statement drew a few sarcastic laughs and remarks from the class. No one was interested in the "special prize", everyone seemed more focused on how they were going to be able to run 2 miles in the hour they had left of class.

"Alright, everyone! On my whistle, 3, 2, 1" and the loud shrill of the whistle signaled everyone to start moving.

Most of the class took off with a running start; the only sound for the first 2 laps was that of sneakers squishing into the already muddy field. But it didn't take long for the class to get distracted and start walking. Nearly everyone seemed to be walking and talking in a large group except for a few students that were still running.

Callie, who was on her third lap and going strong, looked around at the people who were still running. She saw Jeff, an Asian kid who was on the football team a little ahead of her. A girl she had never talked to before named Rose was ahead of her too. To her right was a tall and thin girl named Teddy, and a little behind her was a familiar blonde.

Callie looked over her shoulder and smiled at her. Arizona smiled back and quickened her pace until she was running side by side with Callie. Neither one of them spoke because their lungs were working in overdrive and didn't have the air for that.

Arizona kept glancing over at Callie, watching the brunettes focused facial expression and her toned muscles flex with every pace. Arizona would have never guessed Callie be in such good shape. Arizona was a good runner because for as long as she could remember she ran every morning with her father. She had grown to love running and was quick as a whip and in excellent condition.

A loud roll of thunder and crack of lightning interrupted the silence of the run. Instantly, rain started to gush from the storm clouds, soaking everyone quickly. The class all made a hasty move to the shelter of the school buildings, groaning and complaining, but Callie kept running. She had two more laps to go and would not give up now.

She stretched her legs further and accelerated her body faster. Her muscles began to ache in pain and it was taking Callie nearly everything she had to not throw in the towel. The rain was stinging her eyes and she could feel her toes and fingers beginning to go numb.

"One more. Almost there." Arizona said when she noticed Callie's pace begin to slow.

Callie was shocked to see that Arizona was still running with her. She thought she would have run inside with the rest of her class by now.

"Almost there." Callie agreed, breathlessly. Both girls were turning the corner of the last stretch in a dead sprint, doing anything to finish in time. Arizona's heart was pounding in her ears and her muscles were screaming for relief at this point, but she continued to run next to Callie. The finish line was getting closer and closer and not until they had overshot Coach Kenner's bundled up and sheltered by an umbrella figure did they slow down.

"14 minutes and 54 seconds. Great work, ladies! Now hurry and get back to the gym." And with that he jogged back to the building himself.

Callie was completely spent. She has pushed herself harder than ever and was exhausted. She stood there, face flushed, dripping wet, her chest heaving up and down violently as she struggled for air. Arizona was in a similar fashion as she walked around slowly with her hands clasped above her head. All that could be heard was the rain, which was considerably lighter, tapping on the ground, and the heavy breathing of the two girls.

"What do you have in this class?" Callie asked a few moments later.

"An A" Arizona responded, not making eye contact with the brunette.

Callie narrowed her eyes. "So you didn't need the extra credit."

"No, I guess not." She said with a slight shrug.

"Then why did you keep running with me?" Callie asked again, taking a step closer to Arizona.

"Well I didn't want you to run alone. That's all. Sorry, it won't happen again." Arizona said defensively, looking at Callie briefly before turning and walking towards the gym.

Callie, afraid she had hurt Arizona's feelings, quickly closed the distance between them and fell into step with her.

"No, that's not what I meant. It was nice. Thank you." Callie offered a smile that Arizona returned. They entered the gym just as the last stragglers from class were leaving. It was lunch break next, so they weren't worried about being late.

Callie looked at herself in the mirror with a groan. "I look terrible, I'm soaked and freezing."

"Me too." Arizona agreed, looking at her reflection next to Callie's.

"No, you look fine. You have nice hair, it doesn't frizz out uncontrollably like mine does."

Arizona smiled and looked down at her hands, a little embarrassed by Callie's compliment. "Your hair is really pretty, actually. It doesn't look bad at all."

Now it was Callie's turn for an embarrassed smile. "Well, thanks."

Both girls stood awkwardly, their gym clothes stuck to their skin and their lips a light shade of blue.

"Fuck this, I'm going home. My socks are all wet and I feel sticky and I don't want to get sick. I feel gross and I want to take a hot shower." Callie said as she unlocked her locker, grabbing her backpack and the shoes and clothes she wore to school.

"Ugh, me too. I would kill for a hot shower." Arizona grabbed her change of clothes and walked towards the bathroom stall. "I'm gonna change back into my clothes and then go out to lunch. I'll see you next class." With a smile, she disappeared behind the stall door, shut it and locked it.

"Wait. Why don't you come with me?" Callie asked.

"Eh, I don't know. I've never really skipped before."

"Come on Zonie, you aren't scared are you?" Callie asked in a playfully teasing tone. She secretly had her fingers crossed that Arizona would agree to hang out with her for the rest of the day.

Back in the stall, Arizona's mind was racing. Of course she wanted to leave with Callie, but what if she got in trouble? What if it was too awkward?

"I'm waiting…"

With a smile Arizona said, "Oh, why not?" She opened the stall and stepped out, noticing the big smile on Callie's face.

"Good choice. Let's get out of here."

Both girls laughed as they exited the gym and took the back sidewalk to the parking lot. Callie's hand swung as she walked and it bumped into Arizona's thigh. The contact sent a fire through both of their bodies, but neither one of them acknowledged it. With a nervous smile and laugh, they got into Callie's car and they were off.

"Where are we going?"

"My house, obviously. Didn't I say I wanted to take a hot shower?" Callie flashed Arizona a devilish grin that left Arizona trying to decipher what she meant. Before she could ask any more questions, Callie turned up the stereo and began singing loudly to a song Arizona recognized.

What a coincidence, she thought; Blink-182 was one of her favorite bands. She wondered what else the two would have in common.


End file.
